Wave-motor.



PATENTED MAR. l 1908. E" M. PRATHER.

NOQ 882,269.

WAVE MOTGR.

APPLIOATION FILED APH. a0. 1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET l.

PATENTED MARR 1908.

. M. FEATHER.

WAVE MTQR.

APPLIGATION FILED APR.30,1907.

WAVE MOTOR.

APPLlGATIoN NLBD AP11.30,1907.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

No1 882,269. l PATENTBD MAR. 17, 1908. P. M. FEATHER.

WAVE MOTOR.

APPLIOATION FILED APR. so, 19074 4 sHm'rssuBLr 4,

the transmission gears.

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FRANK MONROE FEATHER, OF LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA.

WAVE-MGT OR.

No. senese.

Specification of Lettore Fatont.

Patented March 17', 1908.

.Application iled April 30, 1907. Serial No. 371,110.

To dit lwier/i. il. muy concern.' v

Be it known that i, FRANK Monitor: iniurinfin, a citizen ol' tho United States, re siding at Los ingeles, in the county olz Los Angeles and State of Qalilornia, ha invented a new and iinproveo llfavendotoi, ol uhieh the following is a speeilieation.

My invention relates to that class ot' weve motors which utilize the wave induced movements of a barge or similar structure llootinjr on the surface ot the water, and in which the barge carries all the. apparatus necessary for the conversion oi' the movements of the barge into useful forms of' energy.

The prime object of my invention is to providea Wave motor which will ride the sens through storms without iniury thereto.

.n further object is to provide meelninisni whereb y any sudden movement ol' the barge will he utilized to the fullest extent l'or poner purposes.

further oblieet to provide :in nrrnngenent Where-hy movements ot' the barge in direction are utilized.

i accomplish these objects by moans olithe devieo desrrihed herein und illustrated in` the :ieee:npnnyiiur drawings, in ufhieh 1VA Figure l is a view olr a son const showing a number of unitsolnxy improved .vnvo nio*- tor anchored otlthe shore. Fie". 2" is a vertical longitudinal seelion ot n unit taken on line 2*-2 of Fig. 2%. view ot' the barge, the root" of the saine being removed. Fig, -'l-- is nn enlarged detail of Fig. Vw is a vortir-ni seetion taken on ifto of Fig. 4. Fig'. is a diagrammatic perspective ifieiv ol" the subies and sheaves.

Referring to ihr drawings and' more pnrtieuleriy to Fig; l. my complete Wave motor Consists of n plurality ot' units l() which are ptoi'eraliljv anrhan'ed n l1 a short distance from the shore to piles N or other anchorage means. These units are preferably small as l. prefer to derive n given runount ot power from. a hn number o' small units rather thon. from a small nuniher ol' largo units.

. liability oi demolition-durixny .storms or goles as :i sinnll unit is much hotter edapted to withstand the notion oi' 'the waives 'than a lo,

'in Fi' ,l Ii l have illustrated the inveimnisni ol' one unit wh i i l will um do .wrilnn ibarge l5 of iuble size in ronvrlfl v'it n. lower vv Fig. lf-

a plan' .nent does muy in :a large ineaspiston 29 ineylinder Si.

nient 1.6 and an upper apparatus compartment 17, a rootl 1S beiney provided to prevent the entrzinre thereto of water in case the Waves should wish or break over the top ot' the barge. At either end of the barge is loe-ated a pulley l.) over Whirh robles 2O pass extending downwardly l'roin the berge and being,Y secured to weights 21 which rest upon the sea bot-toni nud which are heavy enough to withstand the buoyancy of the barge. 'lheso weights may also he )rovided heavy enough to act :is aurnornges lior the berge, so that the piling may be dispensed ith, allowini;- the barge n. vider latitude of movement. .opes 2() pass into the upper apparatus chamber in the barge and are attached to and operate the mechanisms which are adapted to utilize the power of the n1ovement of the barge, As both of these nieehnnisnis exaetly identieal only one will bo described,

Cable 2() passes over sheaves 22 and sheaves 23, sheaves 22 being mounted in a sliding traine 24 which is edapted to reciprocate on guide rods and sheaves 23 being rigidly pivoted -to the guide rods 2.). ot' turns in cable 20 over sheaves and 23 will depend upon the size of thel barge and its maximum vertical movement, as it Will be seen that this arrangement of sheaves is merely lor the purpose of reducing the magnitude of motion of sliding traine 2-1 in the barge. ln localities where the wave and tide movements are comparatively small cables 2() maybe attached directly to sliding traine 24 without the intervention of any sheaves for the purpose of reducing the amount ol' motion of the sliding frame. Also mounted on sliding,` frame 24 are sheaves 26 over which a cable 27 passes, one ol its ends being' secured to a piston rod E@ attached to Air pressure is nOVided, as will be hereinafter explained, in iront ol iston 29 so that piston 2Q is always held at t ie roar end ol cylinder 30. Sheaves 2.1i are provided on the end oi' piston rod` 28 in conjunction with sheaves 32 mounted in bearings secured to the lloor ol' tho barge, so to reduce the amount ol necessary motion ol piston 29 and also to reduce the length of cylinder 30. Cable 27 posses around sheaves 3l and 32 and then around a drum 335 mounted in be@ "ings 34, then around sheaves 2G on sliding l1. nie 24 and sheaves 35 mounted in bearings 3l. Aitor passing around these tight eoinpxutl last named sheaves, cable 27 passes around The number shaft 58 of compressor 50.

. rection shown by the arrow in Fig. 5.

sheaves 36 and 37. Sheaves 36 are secured to the end of piston rod 38 attached to piston 39 in cylinder 40. Airpressure is supplied to cylinder Li() in front of piston 39 so as to hold-piston 39 at the rear of cylii'ider 40. Sheaves 37 are mounted on the tloor of the barge and the end of cable 27 after passing around sheaves 36 and 37 is linally attached to the end of piston rod 38. Cylinder 4() is larger than cylinder S() so that when sliding frame 24 is moved on rods by the upward movement of the barge, piston 39 will remain stationary and piston 20 will be drawn outwardly by cable 27. Drum 33 isyrotatedf by any movement of cable 27 in either direction asfiiston 29 will immediately bring cable 27 and sliding frame 24 back to their normal positions on the subsidence of the' barge.

On any sudden upward movement of the barge the inert-ia of tliewmachinery connected to the drinn 33 will prevent the drinn from immediatelyY starting to rotate. Frame 2l will be forced to move, however. and in doing` so will teni )orarily pull piston 3l.) forward in large cylinder' #lo and thus relieve the mechanism from any undue strain. When thc sudden movement of the barge has ceased piston 3i) will be moved rearwardly. by the air pressure in front of it and will by this action pull piston il.) in small c \,f'linder 3() forwardly and thereby rotaie drinn It and with it the miufliiner)` connected thereto. lt will thus be vseen that lV have provided a means ivlitf'eb)Y all sudden strains on the mechanism are avoided and all the power of. themovcment. ofthebargeultimately utilized.

l have shown connected with drum 325 an air compressor 5d which is adapt id to compress air in to a storage chamber 5l and from which the compressed air may be taken for power purposes. lipes 52 and 53 connect storage chamber 51 with cylinders 3() an'd 4l) respectively and provide the necessary air pressure in front of the piston in both cylin- 4iers. I have shown compressor 50 connected to drinn 33 by a double set of gears which are shown more particularly in Figs. 4 and 5. Shaft 54 is directly connected with drum 33 and on it are mounted two gears 55 and 56. Gear 55 ineshes with a gear 57 on Gear 55 is keyed to shaft 54 and gear 57 is connected to shaft 58 through ratchet Wheel 5t and dog (30, so that shaft 5S will be rotated only in the di- Y Gear 56 meshes with a small idler gear 6l which in turn meshes with gear 62 on shaft 58. Gear 62 is connected with shaft 58 through ratchet u heel 63 and dog 64 which operate to rotate shaft- 55 in the same direction as ratchet 59 and dog (il). By means of these gears shaft 5H is driven continuously in the direction shown by the arrow in Fig. 5 whether shaft 54 is rotating in either direction. A llyl wheel 65 is provided on the compressor 50 so as to render the motion of tne compressor uniform. r

lt will be observed that l have provided a wave Vmotor which is well adapted to the utilization of the 'power of sea Waves as the s vsiem of providing a number of barges of convenient size is very flexible and can be adapted to any particular' local conditions.

The individual units are practically in de- F structible on account ot the fact that they are not held rigidly by any structure, but on the other hand are allowed freedom of movement on the surface of the water. Any nun-'ement of the barge away from the weights or anchors on the sea bottom will cause an operation of 'the power mechanism in the barge, whether that movcn'ient'of the barge be directly up and down or horizontal over the surface ot' the water. On account of sii ierior durability l prefer to make the individual barges comparatively small and to ilse a large number of them iii a single installation, as a small barge is much more sea worthy than a large one.

ll'aving described my invention what l claim as new and desire to secure by Al'ietters Patent is:---

l. ln a wave motor, a lloatingbarge, a lable anchored at one end to the sca bottom and passing u nvaidly to said baigc,.mea.ns to utilize tlfe refativc movements of the barge and cable for power purposes, and pressure means attached to the upper end of said cabh` adapted to pull said 'cable toward said barge.

2. ln a wave motor, a floating barge, a sliding frame mounted ou said barge., a cable secured at one of its ends to said sliding frame and at its other eiid to a sheave mounted on said sliding frame, an air compressor mounted on the barge adapted to be operated from a rotating drum, an air storage chamber, a small and a larg'c cylindcrmountcd on thebarge, said cylinders provided with pistons and being in open communication with saidstoragc chamber, and

a cable attached at one end to the piston of the small cylinder, passing around said rotating drum, over said sheave on said sliding frame, and attached at its other end to the piston in said large cylinder. l

3. In a wave motor, a floating barge, a frame slidably mounted on said barge, a -able secured at one of its ends to saidsliding frame and at. its other to the sea bottom, a sheave mounted on said sliding frame, a rotating drinn mounted on said barge, a large and a small air pressure cylinder mounted onl said barge, said cylinders beingA provided with pistons, a cable secured at one-end to the piston in said small cylinder, passing around said rotating drum, over said sheave the sca bottom,`

on said sliding frame and secured at its other end to l-hc piston in said large cylinder.

4. In a wave motor, a floating barge, cables anchored to the sea bottom and extending upwardly to said barge, resilient pneumatic pressure means adapted to pull said cable tou` ard said barge, means whereby the movement of said cable in said barge is reduced, and means to utilize said reduced movement for power purposes,

5. In a Wave motor, a iioating bargev` a cable anchored to the sea bot-tom and extending upwardly to said barge, a reeiproeat ing carriage mounted in said bargevand provided with a plurality of sheaves, said barge being provided with a like number of sheaves, said cable passing successively over the sheaves on said carriage and the sheaves on said barge, and 4pneumatic pressure means connected to said carriage adapted to hold said cable taut.

(i, ln a wave ly ytor a floating barfe, a cable anchored to the seay bottom am ex tendiner upwardh' lo said barge, a reciprocating' carriage mounted in .said barge and operativelyr attached to said eable,sheaves mounted on said carriage, a large and a small cylinder mounted on said barge and having pistons therein, means to supply pneumatic pressure, to said e \'linders, and a cable attached at its ends to said pistons and passing over said sheaves. i

ln witness thatV l ha ve hereunto subseribed my name day of A\pril, 1007.

FRANK MON ROE PRA'AIHER.

Vw'itnesses:

claim the foregoing` 1 this 22nd 

